Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Natasha
Ifeel like I’m floating on a cloud, even after Maksim leaves for work. For the first time, I didn’t want him to leave me but I know he has to deal with Bratva business.
But my happiness comes crashing down when I get a phone call from my dad.
“Natasha,” he says in his stern voice.
“Dad.”
“I’m calling to see how things are going. I expect well. You and Maksim should be trying for a baby. I want grandchildren within two years.”
I freeze. “Grandchildren?” Maksim and I have only just gotten closer. Kids are the last thing I want right now.
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
“No,” I whisper. I can never say no to my father.
“Good. I’ll be coming to New York in a week for a charity event. It will be a good time to check in with you. Make sure everything is going well. Make sure you’re doing your duty.”
“No,” I say without even thinking about it. The last thing I want is my father coming to New York.
He goes eerily silent for so long that I start to sweat. “No? You don’t want to see your own father?”
“No. That’s not what I mean. I’m sorry, sir.”
“Good. I’ll be there in a week.” He hangs up without saying goodbye. Any hope I had for the future with Maksim feels dampened.
My eyes find the spot on the coffee table where Alexandra hit her head. I quickly look away. Don’t feel guilty, I remind myself. It was an accident.
A knock on the door makes me gasp but when I look out the peephole and see that it’s just Kira, I relax slightly.
“I figured you would be bored all day by yourself,” she says, strutting into the house. “So that’s why I thought it would be for the best that we go out today.”
“Out? Where?” Hopefully not another ladies’ function. The last one didn’t go well.
“To a party. I’m dying to have some fun. My dad never lets me do anything like that but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. And I figured if you were with me, I’d be in less trouble. I can just claim we’re two girls going out to have some fun.”
“What party? I’ve never been to a party before.”
“One of my friends told me about this house party. Apparently it’s at some mega rich asshole’s house. I thought we could dance. Maybe get a drink. My dad doesn’t let me do that since I’m not twenty-one yet but I like to sneak some drinks from time to time.”
“I’ve never had alcohol before.” My father never would have allowed it.
“Don’t sound so afraid, Natasha. It will be fun. I promise.”
“I’m not sure Maksim would want me going to a party.”
“My brother?” She scoffs. “He’s the king of parties. He would always go out to a club every night before he got married to you. He’ll understand. Come on.”
“I should leave a note just in case.”
She pouts. “So he can come and force me back home? No way. Let’s just go.”
Against my better judgement, I follow Kira out of the penthouse without leaving a note.
Her driver takes us to a large mansion without question.
“Won’t he tell your father we’re here?” I ask.
“No. He’s loyal to me. And besides, I pay him well to stay quiet and keep some things from my dad. Now, let’s go have some fun!”
She practically drags me from the car and towards the mansion.
A lot of people are mingling around outside but it’s nothing compared to the amount of people inside.
It’s a cacophony of noise and people. I feel like I might be swallowed whole.
The air is warmer and thicker inside with all the people, making it hard to breathe.
“Kira, I’m not sure about this,” I say, tugging on her arm. “I would prefer to just stay at home.”
“You are young, Natasha. You should be out having fun. And I should be out having fun so let’s have fun together! Now, let’s get a drink.”
Kira drags me towards the kitchen where multiple bottles of alcohol sit on the counter. Without hesitating, she grabs a bottle of vodka and pours us each a drink. “Here.” She hands me the glass, which I take carefully.
She chugs her glass back in one big gulp and winces. “God. That’s strong but that’s the good stuff. Have a drink.”
I take a careful sip and immediately spit it back out into the cup. “I’m good. I don’t need this.”
“Fine. I won’t force you but you’re missing out!” She pours herself another shot of vodka and drops it back and lets out a loud holler. The people in the kitchen holler back.
“Kira, we should be smart about this. Getting drunk at a place like this might not be good. What if someone tries to take advantage of you?”
“No one has before so I’m good. I’m indestructible. No one would come after Gregor Petrov’s daughter. Trust me. Now, let’s dance.” She grabs my hand and tugs me into the living room. Kira is fearless as she whips her head and hips around like she doesn’t have a care in the world.
I can only sway back and forth. This isn’t where I want to be. For the first time since marrying Maksim, I want to be around him. I want to feel his arms around me. I want to feel safe.
And being at a party like this doesn’t feel safe. I notice men looking at me. Eyeing me over. It only reminds me of the men who attacked me in Greece.
“I think we should go,” I say, trying to tug on Kira’s arm but she’s not having it. When I try again, Kira jerks away and ends up landing on her backside. She’s stunned for a moment before she starts laughing.
“Your friend is a wild one,” a man says from behind me.
Whirling around, I come face to face with an extraordinarily handsome man. He could rival Maksim in good looks. “Sorry about her.”
“No need to be sorry. It’s entertaining. I like a girl who knows how to party.” He extends his hand. “I’m Enzo. This is my house.”
I hesitate. Enzo… why does that name sound familiar? When I don’t shake his hand, Enzo’s smile disappears.
“You don’t look happy to be here,” he comments.
“That’s because I was forced to come here by my friend.”
“She’s making a mess of things.”
I look over at Kira to see her chugging back a bottle of tequila. She is unhinged. Clearly this is something she keeps from her family otherwise, I doubt her father would allow her to be doing this. I know my father would be ashamed of me.
Kira stumbles over the edge of the carpet and falls back to the floor, spilling tequila everywhere.
“I’m so sorry,” I say to Enzo. “I’ll get her to leave.”
“It’s fine,” he says, his eyes raking over Kira before looking at me. “You’re new here, are you not? I tend to throw a lot of parties at my house but I’ve never seen you or your friend before.”
I help Kira back to her feet and deliberately take the bottle of tequila away from her. She only laughs and tries to stand with me. Enzo keeps his eyes on us the entire time.
“We don’t get out much,” I say.
“Clearly.” He sounds amused. “You’re both young. Don’t you know that there are monsters out there that you need to be careful of?”
My body goes still. Is he saying he’s one of those monsters I need to be careful of? I’m too afraid to ask.
“We’ll go,” I say.
“You can stay. Have fun.” The way he says it… I’m not sure I want to have fun with a man like him.
And that’s when it hits me. Enzo. I remember Maksim saying that he was dealing with this Italian mafia man named Enzo Bianchi. But surely he isn’t the same Enzo…
“What’s your name again?” I ask.
“Enzo.”
“Last name.”
He smirks. “Why do you need my last name?”
“Just curious,” I lie.
“It’s Bianchi. Enzo Bianchi.”
Oh no. Kira and I walked straight into the house of Maksim’s enemy. I’m not sure if Enzo knows who we are but we have to leave right now.
“My friend is drunk,” I say deliberately. I don’t want him to know Kira’s name in case he recognizes it. “We should really go.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t stop you.”
I tug on Kira who leans heavily against me. She’s already drunk from how much she consumed in the last thirty minutes.
I can feel Enzo’s eyes on us as we leave the house. It’s not until we’re outside and heading towards the car that I start to feel safe. Kira’s driver, Sam, doesn’t comment on her drunken state as he helps her get inside.
“Where are we going?” Kira mumbles once we’re in the car and driving away from Enzo Bianchi’s house. Did he know who we were? If he did, he didn’t stop us, which is either a good thing or a terrifying thing. I just have to hope he didn’t know who we were.
But I’m going to have to tell Maksim about this. Kira cannot go back to that house ever again. Even if it means getting her into trouble, I’ll do whatever I must to protect her. She’s my sister now. I won’t let what happened to me in Greece happen to her.
Sam drops me off at the penthouse.
Maksim is inside, pacing around the living room. His eyes are fire when he turns to me as I walk through the front door. “Where have you been? I was worried.”
It warms my heart that he was concerned for me. “Kira came over. She wanted to go to a party.”
Maksim scoffs. “That girl. She always loves going to parties and yet, our father never sees it. He thinks she’s a princess that can do no wrong.”
I wring my hands together and bite my lip.
Maksim notices. Of course he does. He told me that he can tell the truth from a person’s lies. “What is it?”
“The party Kira brought me to… it was the home of Enzo Bianchi.”
“What?!”
I flinch. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I’m not even sure he knew who we were. I got Kira out of there fast. But he did talk to me.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No. He didn’t even touch me. Like I said, I don’t know if he knew who we were.”
Slowly, Maksim lets out a low breath. “That’s something at least. I’ll have to look into that. But you’re telling me that you stepped foot into Enzo’s house? How na?ve can you be, Nat?”
“I didn’t know it was his house at first and besides, I didn’t even want to go to that party. Your sister dragged me there. I would have much preferred to stay at home with you,” I snap.
“You wanted to be with me?” The shock in his voice is obvious and it breaks my heart.
“I didn’t want to be at that party. So I’m sorry. But nothing went wrong. And I promise I’ll leave a note next time.”
“I can’t believe you were in Enzo’s house. If that fucker thinks he can take you away from me…” Maksim lets out a low growl before he grabs my face. I gasp.
And then his lips are on mine, consuming me. Lighting me on fire. Awakening a desire within me.
“You are mine,” he says against my lips. I never would have thought I would hear Maksim sound so possessive over me. It makes me more happy than I thought anything ever could.
Before I can react, Maksim picks me up into his arms, kissing me like he’s going to eat me alive.